Daily Greek Vocabulary Challenge: Oct. 17

Here are today's vocabulary words; it's Group 99. Click on the word to learn more at Logeion:

ὕβρις ~ ὕβρεως (noun f.): violence, insolence 

ὕδωρ ~ ὕδατος (noun n.): water 

φάρμακον ~ φαρμάκου (noun n.): drug, remedy 

μαθητής ~ μαθητοῦ (noun m.): student, pupil 

καιρός ~ καιρoῦ (noun m.): moment, opportunity 

These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):

Ὕβριν μίσει.

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

Ψυχῆς νοσούσης ἐστὶ φάρμακον λόγος.

Πολλοὶ μαθηταὶ κρείττονες διδασκάλων.

Μηδὲν ἄγαν, καιρῷ πάντα πρόσεστι καλά.

Laura Gibbs · Greek Proverbs: 099

And now, some commentary:

Ὕβριν μίσει.

Hate violence.

This is another of the maxims attributed to the Seven Sages by Stobaeus. The word μίσει is an imperative from the contract verb μισέω. The word ὕβρις is sometimes used in English: hubris. It means violence in Greek, but with particular connotations of insolence and pride, and it also has sexual connotations. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Hubris.

Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ ἀντλεῖς.

You're drawing water with a sieve.

This is a fool's errand: you can scoop all you want, but the sieve is not going to hold the water. Compare a similar saying you saw last month: Κοσκίνῳ ὕδωρ φέρει, "He's carrying water in a sieve." The original meaning of the verb ἀντλέω is to bale bilgewater; the noun ἄντλος means bilgewater.

Ψυχῆς νοσούσης ἐστὶ φάρμακον λόγος.

Speech is a remedy for an ailing spirit.

The saying is one of Menander's monostichs (one-liners) in iambic verse:

Ψυχῆς | νοσού || σης ἐσ|τὶ φάρ || μακον | λόγος.

From the root in Greek φάρμακ- we get English words like pharmacy.

Πολλοὶ μαθηταὶ κρείττονες διδασκάλων.

Many students are greater than (their) teachers.

This Greek proverb actually appears in Henry Fielding's Tom Jones: "I remember my old schoolmaster, who was a prodigious great scholar, used often to say, Polly matete cry town is my daskalon. The English of which, he told us, was, That a child may sometimes teach his grandmother to suck eggs." Thanks to Michael Gilleland for that citation!

Μηδὲν ἄγαν, καιρῷ πάντα πρόσεστι καλά.

Nothing in excess; all things are good in the right measure.

Diogenes Laertius attributes these words to Chilon of Sparta; you can find out more about Chilon at Wikipedia; he was considered to be one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece. The word καιρός often means the right time or the critical moment, but it can also refer to measure or proportion, which best suits the context of this saying.

The Seven Sages

And here's a random proverb too:

---

---

Click here to subscribe/unsubscribe to the email list.

---